The Hunt for Arawn
by Faethin
Summary: Beyond the reach of understanding lies a creature bred without Dark Powers, but within Nature's realm. During a harsh winter, White Wolfos invade the Fields of Hyrule. Will the company of the Sages be able to stop them?
1. Of Partings and Feelings

A. N. To my worst discovery yesterday, I realized that people at the Zelda category are, wachamaycallit, afraid of weird crossovers as they call them. I regret to announce, then, that my fic 'Daeridhrim Chronicles: the Sheika' will end where I left it. Special thanks to Snowsilver, Tao Shui, Snoopy, and Squeak-chan for their support.

                I had started a fic a long time ago, about a winter that fell over Hyrule. It did not do very well, for it was my first fic. But I liked the idea, and I decided to use it even if it meant to start all over from scratch.

                So here it is, the new fic. Please leave your comments and I will gladly return the favour if possible.

***

Of partings and feelings

                Once again Link turned his gaze back and stared into the remoteness where her fiery hair could still be seen, and only snow there seemed to be between them. She stared back at his green figure, almost lost already in the whiteness of the plains. He raised his open palm and waved at her, and she could see him, and she waved back at him. He could not stand the sight anymore though, and dropped his gaze at her, and a tear ran along her cheek. For the last time she waved at him, but he would not return her farewell now; and the memory of that last warm embrace came back to her heart. There before the flickering fire of the house in which she had grown up, there in the same house where they had shared the last night together ere he would depart into toil and danger in the hunt for a fell beast, there her memory flew; and in her heart the last song they had sang together echoed like a lost voice in the depths of a fathomless sea.

                _O dear love, do not cry,_

_                O child, wipe the tear from your eye._

_                You know I need you to be strong_

_                When the day is as dark as the night is long._

                In his mind, though, his thoughts about her were quailed, but never forgotten; but soon his senses were bent back towards the wood where his company would find It: It that had caused so much loss to the people of Hyrule, It that had wickedly slain so many a tender Kokiri child in the deep Forest of the Lost, It that had become a tale of horror to all that by strange fortune had met with it and come out alive, It that was not bred by Dark Powers and yet had caused so much sorrow to the folk of the realm. In it was set his mind and heart; in the capture and slaying of the Fell Wolfos known as Arawn, the Bane of the Wood.

                A gust of cold wind met his face, and Link felt the strong and heavy hand of his Sworn Brother Darunia the Goron.

                "Don't worry too much, lad," he said with in soothing manner. "You will see her again before long. I reckon the creature won't be hard to catch."

                "You speak as one that has met with White Wolfos before," said the knight. "But I don't think you have truly done so before. How can you tell me that? For all we know, one of us –and perhaps more than one of us- might get killed by those beasts; and the deeper we go, the more creatures we are bound to find."

                "If that should come to pass, so be it," said the Shadow Woman Impa, and Link had always listened to her words as those of the wisest warrior of the realm. "Do not trouble your mind with those thoughts, for it is too soon to do so. I do not think that death is our doom in this quest; but if it should come to take one of us, I at least hope to take as many Wolfos with me as I may be allowed."

                "Indeed," said Nabooru the Gerudo, but she was smiling as if the thought of battle was of her liking. "And the more dogs we find, the merrier."

                "'The merrier'? What are you talking about?" asked the Saria the Kokiri, and fright and memory of dread hung in her voice. "Surely you don't mean that you'd be happy to find these monsters?"

                "Of course she didn't mean that," Ruto the Zora said with a small laugh. "But she can't hide the Gerudo in her, can she? It would be like asking Impa to smile for once." And when she had said this, she and Nabooru broke into laughter.

                "Need I remind you that the experience by which this girl has gone through can be held along the worst this realm has ever seen?" spoke a fair and deep voice, and another figure clad in Sheikah robes had spoken; though her hair was not neither dark nor white, but of gold; and it was not short and loose but long and bound in a single braid. Fair Princess Zelda spoke again, and she said: "We should not by any means recall that memory lest we hurt an already wounded heart."

                "And I agree," said Link the Hylian. "I know it must be hard right now, but has anyone something happier to talk about? And I think we'd best leave the Wolfos out."

                But silence loomed over the company thereafter. The snow under which most part of the realm was covered was thick and had fallen heavily, and to their knees it reached. The trees had long ago been bereft of their red leaves, and as gloomy statues of long-forgotten beings they stood all about the wide Field of Hyrule; and even the tree-friend Saria was not keen to remain for too long beneath their bald boughs. The path that led from Hyrule Castle to the Lost Woods was all but gone under the layers of snow, and only by having descried the road to the Forest from atop the walls of Lon Lon Ranch they had been able to go forth without much fear getting lost. But they had now walked scarcely four miles, and already the dread of fear for the Wood and the evil that yet lingered there was heavily burdened in their hearts; and only Saria longed to arrive to the Forest as quickly as they could.

                When the day had finally been gone and the night was come, Malon at last climbed down from the wall. No desire to go back into the house, where she would have to face other loved ones, came to her; and she just remained there standing back to the wall. Cold was the night, and yet she did not feel the pains of winter but till quite a while after. But by the time she needed the warmth of a fire she had had time to gaze at the stars mysteriously lit and with few clouds about; but she rued that the Moon had spread his light but two weeks ago and was not there to light the travellers way.

                She turned the knob and entered the house, and at once she noticed her father fast asleep before the fire that flickered and made the shadows dance about. Long she had been used to Talon's odd sleeping habits; yet she felt a small pang of sadness: he had not waited for her to come, and he had not bothered also to go out and look for her. But she comforted herself by thinking that he was hard-working man and needed rest more than she did. His slight lack of concern did not leave her heart though.

                Up the stairs she went, to her bedroom. The warmth was all but gone there, but she longed to be alone, and no other place there was where no other would think to go; for the cold was bitter, and only her heart moved her to seek loneliness at the time. She drew a blanket and wrapped it about herself, and she sat on the bed in deep thought; and her mind wandered all about the dark and light corners of her heart. Memories of joy and of sadness were recalled, songs of old days she remembered, and she quickly lost count of time, and a sleepiness fell over her. And amidst this running of thoughts, for a while, a vision came to her, as only those that folk with heavy hearts at the hardest times can see.

                She could see the mysterious Lost Woods, not with its queer green hue all about and within, but with the whiteness of a winter's veil instead. The trees had long lost their leaves to the autumn, and their spiked branches hung and were drawn downwards, like halberds in a thicket of spears. Howls rang in the air time and again, and they filled her with fear and despair. Fell they sounded, as though the beasts were laughing; but it was not so, for now she could see them, white and terrible, with their yellow eyes and their paws as red as their maws: the White Wolfos that had appeared in the wood because of the harshness of Winter. They were running; running towards something that seemed to be warmer. Long and heavy were their strides, and with each step they took a sense of foreboding flooded her, as if something terrible were approaching.

                Startled she woke, for a light sleep had crept into her. But the feeling left her not, and she felt even more fright for her love. As hastily as her numb body allowed her she went to the window; but she dared not open it, and she tried instead to gaze again into the wood far to the east. But the snow had begun to fall again, and she felt as if the last embers of her hope had been quenched. 

                "It is too risky to do so," Princess Zelda said trying to sound calmed, but the cold was making her voice tremble.

                "But we need it!" said Link, and wrapped with him in his heavy cloak was Saria shivering. Her own cloak was not enough to protect her from the raging cold that had befallen along with the winds. "She's not as big as you! She needs it!"

                "He's right!" said Darunia, but he was wearing only a slight cape, for the Gorons had much more custom than any other races to harsh weathers. "Just look at the little one! And if it's not enough, look at the Zora!" and he pointed at Ruto. The Zora princess was suffering much also; yet the pride of her line did allow her to speak a word of complain.

                "Princess," Impa said, and even though it was not raised all could hear her voice, "perhaps they are right. The cold is too bitter for a child and for a Zora. You must cast the spell."

                "But our hope is in secrecy!" replied the princess. "You know that the fire will be seen even as far as Lon Lon ranch!" and at the mention of the ranch the knight's heart jolted. "If there are spies about the wood, I shall clearly write _Zelda is here_ for them to read as an openly as a book."

                "If you don't want me to write _Link is here_ instead, please cast the spell," Link said almost defiantly as he set his arms about the Kokiri. "She's freezing; and so is Ruto."

                Princess Zelda frowned, but her voice became fair and calm as she always strove for it to be; and for a while a special light shone in her eyes. But it was as though a shadow had been cast on her face, fair and dark. She gazed into the whitened horizon were the wood was, and her thoughts were clearly marked on her face. "Very well," she said at last after a short time of silence. "I shall do what you request, if only for the sake of my fellow sages. But from now on, you must keep your blades sharpened and ready."

                She raised her arms, and her lips began to move as in prayer; and for a moment only the wind's cry filled their ears. But then a red light began to issue from between her hands, and as it grew the company was suddenly surrounded by waves of warm air, and the snow about them began to melt and to uncover the dead grass; and the company felt relief in their heavy hearts for a while as the heat caressed their aching limbs. Saria stopped shivering and dared to peer outside the knighs's wrap; and Ruto, though she had been standing firmly as though the wind had not been hurting her too much, sighed and nodded her head in exhaustion.

                "Thank you, princess" Saria said timidly, and the tenderness of her words made everyone but Impa smile.

                "Only because of the pain of two of my fellow sages," Zelda said proudly; yet she felt anxious about Din's Fire, and the others also did, though not as greatly as her. And a slight anger overtook her.

                "Don't mind too much the dog-spies, princess," Nabooru said after having been in silence for quite a while. "It was just a matter of time before they would take notice of us anyway. So what if we have told them already? That'd only mean some battle in advance."

                "Let us hope, then, for a quick sunrise," Princess Zelda said. "We shall be warm for the rest of the night; yet I shall not cast Din's Fire again unless real _mortal peril_ is about us."

                At once Link felt the true meaning of these words.

                "What are you saying?" Ruto said suddenly, and the others also perceived Zelda's harsh meaning. "Do you think we were just faking? Do you think I just needed the fire because I'm afraid of the dark? If you hadn't cast the fire Saria would have frozen!"

                "Only Saria?" the princess said. "You fail to mention that not only Saria would have frozen."

                "Princess!" the Shadow Woman Impa spoke, and earnestly she said to Princess Zelda: "Let not your concern for our secrecy veil your mind, for it will only hasten your mouth!

                For a while a cold lingered about the company, but it was in the form of anger and disappointment. The light in Princess Zelda's eyes shone with a stranger hue, and between her guardian and she  cold gazes were fixed, and Link knew that only Impa's manner was enough to silence the princess. Then to the knight it appeared that Princess Zelda shrank, even in all of her fairness and pride, and that Impa grew taller and darker. It lasted for a while though, till everything faded back into the wind's charge all about the spell and the melted snow at their feet.

                "Indeed," said the princess quietly, and Link saw that her proud voice had been lessened; and to Ruto and Saria she said: "My attendant is right. Please forgive my arrogance."

                "It is the air of evil," whispered Darunia to Link. "As we come closer to that dratted wood everything will get darker; even our moods I reckon."

                Over the wooden roofs a thick layer of snow had been set. The ranch was all covered in the whiteness of winter, yet its beauty had not shown since the first snowfall. All outdoor activities had been abandoned for a while, and even if it was not of her liking to repeat the same tedious work every day Malon had found quite boring these last. To milk the cows and keep the house clean were all of her duties; and even if it was her delight to sing when bored, even the songs she desired to sing were cold and sad, and naught she thought of made her change her mood. So it was when she found herself the next day, sitting at the table, besides her father and the stable groom Ingo.

                "I'll tell you!" said Talon the owner to his worker between sips to his tea. "It was incredible, when the company left. I've seen loads of battles in my life, and I've seen good armies. But those lads ought to rid us from those disgusting dogs in no time!"

                "Really?" said Ingo frowning, but Malon knew that he frowned more than anything else. "Well then! Let's hope they'll all return in one piece. If you'll tell me, I'll tell you back: those Wolfos aren't good dogs: I saw the poor lad done in a few days ago in Kakariko. What a sight! He was all stained in blood; blood and bites I'll say. But the worst sight of all was the lass that was walking with him: she was all torn and ragged, as if the beasts had tried to rip her inside-out. Horrible, horrible; I'd seen those kind of wounds only back when we were at war.

                Malon gulped too much of her porridge and coughed at these words, but the men did not take notice.

                "Yeah," said Talon with a queer look in his face. "I think you're right. Do you remember that poor captain brought from there Gerudo Fortress the last day of the War?"

                "Ho!" said Ingo with a jolt. "How cold I forget it! Killed as death as only those thieves can. But they say he died saving the king, so I guess he was rather happy to have been brought like they did."

                "Don't know if those kind of folk are still about though," said Talon with a sigh. "I'm not sure if lads as brave as that captain come all the time. I'd say that if that lord, (what was his name? Oh! Yeah, Gilestel,) were yet with us those plagued dogs wouldn't be festering round here with poor folk that happen to stray in the night."

                "But I think that there are still some men as brave as that Gilestel of yours," spoke Malon at length, and her father and his worker turned to her. "I'd think that, if not braver, Link is just as valiant as that lord you talk about."

                "Now here, lass," Talon said with a smile. "I know this boy Link is nice and all, and I remember all he did for us when that Ganondorf was king; but you'd had to see the _real_ Gilestel to understand courage."

                "Yeah!" Ingo said, and when he agreed with Talon, Malon knew nothing she would say would change their minds. "You'd really have to see him: with his sword, and his shield, and his spear, and that white steed he always rode, and his voice. Yeah, I say again: you'd have to see him. Now _that_ was a knight!"

                "I guess so," she said coldly, and stood up and walked away leaving the two men talking about the lord Gilestel and his ride to some place Malon had not heard of. Again a slight pang of sadness crept into her heart, for her father had not noticed with much concern her abrupt leaving and her despise for him having misjudged Link. If she had not been in the daylight and with Ingo near, perhaps a tear might have slipped from her eye. Yet she did not quail before weeping, and she thought that cool gust would quench her feelings. Her cloak she took, after climbing up the stairs and entering the room, and she put it on. Down the stairs she went back.

                "I'm going for a walk," she said already opening the door. A chill wind blew in.

                "All right, lass. Just be sure to be back quickly," said Talon absently.

                "_I promise nothing"_ she thought, and she closed the door behind her.

                Outside there was a bench where she liked to seat in the summer afternoons in front of the stables. She brushed the snow away and sat down with a sigh. Again, loneliness she yearned; and not even the quiet company of the horses she would have stood. An air of dread was about her, and the rumour of the wind as it carried the echo of distant lands met he long Hylian ears. At that time was that I happened for the first time: her keen hearing told her that music was in the air. She looked about her, for the music went away the moment she had blinked in surprise. But the sound she heard was again that of the wind as it blew the cold over the wide fields. But she was sure that a song she knew she had heard. And the voice she had listened had sounded fair and familiar.

                The song had slightly lifted the foreboding in her heart, and she felt light again, as one that has been sleeping during a night just to wake and rise to a warm spring day. She did not stand up, though she felt the desire to sing; not a cold and fell song, but a warm and fair song, yet sadness she could not take away from it.

                Fairly, in the voice she had been blessed with, she sang.

                _When the cold of winter comes,_

_                Starless night will cover day._

_                In the veiling of the Sun,_

_                We will walk in bitter snow._

_                But in Dreams_

_                I can yet hear your name_

_                And in Dreams_

_                We will meet again_

_                When the wind of dread comes forth_

_                To destroy my last dream of you_

_                In the slaying of the light_

_                To the night I shall begone_

_                Yet in Dreams_

_                I will hearken to your words of love_

_                And in Dreams_

_                Together we shall remain._

_                When the seas and mountains fall_

_                And we come to end of days_

_                In the dark I hear a call_

_                Calling me there_

_                Where you linger_

_                And back to you._

_***_

                A. N. I know that I have, in the past, rambled about the lack of originality in most fics I see nowadays in the Zelda category at FF.net; and I know that I now might fall in that same lack of originality. But, for reasons I can't explain, the people at the Zelda category like these kind of stories more than anything else, and I need critical reviews in order to improve my writing skills; and I'd try a bit more in other categories, but the ones I like are, IMHO, _way _out of my reach to attempt a great fic on them. So I apologize to all that might consider what I'm doing an act of hypocrisy; I assure you that is not what intend, to write yet another fic about the same subjects on the same events.

                On a second note, I'd like to make a bit of publicity to what it is, in my opinion again, the best Zelda fic of FF.net. If you want original characters, original timelines, original landscapes, yet you want it to feature Zelda, Link and the rest of the gang, please check out The Kirby Kid's awesome 'Her Story.' It's not yet finished, and believe, you won't want it to finish once you start it.

                Well, nothing else to say from yours truly.

                I Fëasin.__


	2. Words of Secrecy and of Courage

A. N. Thank you for your positive comments, they are well appreciated. Still, I must ask you to do me a favour: if you by chance find a typo or something like that, or a grammar error, or a misspelling, please let me know. I need to be nip-ticked always to improve writing skills.

Also, due to circumstances of late, I won't be updating the story for a month. Please, don't abandon me. I'll make sure to deliver another chapter as soon as possible.

Words of Secrecy and Courage

As in all cold dawns of winter, grey was the morning that greeted the company. About the small clearing of grass amidst the snow lay the Sages and the Hero of time, all of them asleep but one. Impa the Shadow-woman had had the last of the turns in keeping watch, though she alone could have had stayed awake the whole night; for although all living beings in Hyrule need rest and sleep, yet the night is the true time of the shadows. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, her eyes wide open and fixed in the path that would lead them into the Lost Woods, the Sheikah seemed as though she was made of stone. 

In her hands was her harp, though she had held it out only for the sake of her custom; for she knew that all kinds of music, even the lowest form of it, were forbidden till they arrived to the Children's Forest. She sighed and put the fair instrument back in her waist-pouch, and instead she drew her long knife, and it shone in a white light drawn from the snow. After gazing at it for a few moments, she took it by the blade and held aloft the hilt; and carved in an old language of forgotten times, when the Sheikah were still numerous and strong, were these words:

_An i Daeheryn, o naneth tin._

She stared at the hilt in silence, and then she gazed about her, as if looking for something; but only more snow and bald trees met her sight. And sterner her face grew, as one that ever lives with dread and sadness in her heart. She closed her eyes for a while.

A noise coming from behind made her turn round in startle, and that was most uncommon in her; but it was just that Princess Zelda had woken. The Princess silently moved to where her guardian sat, and she was careful not wake the others, for it was still quite early in the morning. When she had crossed her legs in manner alike to Impa she sighed as if tired, but no word came from her fair mouth. Thus both women clad in Sheikah robes were for a time, and during that time a strange peace loomed above them, and not even the wind's cry dared to disturb them.

So it was when Link awoke quietly; for even though Princess Zelda had been quiet as a cat, yet he had felt something stir beside him when she had woken. Even if he wished not (or perhaps dared not) listen to his lady's conversation, out of the moment's silence Impa's voice, low but clear, spoke to the Princess. And thus he heard words speaking of things he thought he might not have had to listened to; for much they confused them but till quite a time later.

"I hope that you have quenched already your feelings of yesterday," said Impa, and Princess Zelda nodded her head.

"Indeed," she said in reply, and Link felt that the pride always hidden in her fair speech had been greatly lessened. "I must remember it at all times: that what really matters is the safety of all companions. I greatly regret my words spoken to Saria and Ruto; and I think that I must ask for their forgiveness. But not now, I don't know if my heart could withstand the shame, even as slight and meaningless as it might be."

"I wish for you to ask for their forgiveness, indeed," Impa said. "But I do not wish to cause you unnecessary pain. Though as long as I live I shall ever shall remain giving my counsel willingly, may the feeling of loneliness never reach your heart; for you must always remember that your tears I have seen, and their reason I have understood."

"Do not worry," said the Princess, and as she smiled her eyes shone once again with their star-light. "I know that always you shall be my friend and counsellor. And I know not if you can perceive my thankfulness for that. But I wonder -if you truly are like a mother to me- have you perceived the feeling that, of late, has been about my heart? Have you done so?"

Link wondered what she might be talking about, and Impa remained in silence for a while. But she finally answered and said: "Yes, my lady; I have noticed that a shadow looms above you; and I see that your eyes, if not your sight, are veiled in the fog of tears. I truly know that your weep not for every unimportant event, and that strong you remain even during the most hard of times." The knight could see her eyes also shining now, but her glance was not as stern always, but it was soft and tender as mother that looks upon her beloved child. And she said finally, in an even lower voice than before: "That is why I cannot guess the reason for your grief."

Princess Zelda raised her eyes and looked into the Shadow-woman's own, and she said: "You have said that I should never feel loneliness, for you always are with me. Yet, as dear as your company is, it cannot suffice, at times, an empty space I feel in my heart. Perhaps you know the feeling: when you see someone you love, every day, as he walks about your home and greets you respectfully, and as you return his greeting, and he turns and leaves you for another, and you are but powerless to do anything to keep him with you for a little while longer. That feeling of being unable to reach him and tell him that, as the days and months and years passed, your love grew with your mind and body; and that your heart is but bent towards him; and that it is troubled and grieved because of him."

Impa was silent again, yet this time she did not speak in reply for quite a while. Link felt no desire in his mind to continue to overhear her Lady's words of sorrow when he had not been called to do so. Yet, deep within his heart lay the wish of knowing more about the warmer and softer side of the ever-cold and fair Zelda, and thought he always managed to control his feelings he could not close his ears or numb his hearing.

"I thought we had spoken the last word about this matter months ago," Impa said at length, and the sternness of her face was back. "I thought I had made you understand why your fate lies not with him, or do I err in guessing who this lord is?"

"By the look on your eyes I would say nay," Princess Zelda said nodding her head again, as if in shame. "I do not think you mistake him, and I still remember the words we had back then at the castle; and I still remember the reason why I cannot hope for our dooms to be woven. But I ask you, my dearest guardian and friend! Were you not ever young and hopeful for love? Have you not ever felt love stir in your heart for a fellow Sheikah not of your own blood? Do you not remember anyone you felt true and blissful love for? Surely love is even amidst the Shadows?"

"Love there is amidst the Shadows," Impa said. "And I am sure that, had fate been kinder to myself and my kin, love I would have found at an earlier age. But it was not so, and the one I would had grown to love went away and departed from this world many years ago, and since the slaying of my mother only you have remained to give purpose to my life as the last of the Shadow-folk.

"But I stray. You know, as I have told you now and I had told you before, that I had a loved one that is no more within my reach. Therefore, I do not understand your feelings rightfully, or at least as you would expect me to do. But one thing I know: even though your love be growing ever with each day passing, remember always two things: your doom as Princess of this realm lets you not chose your companion for your life; and even if you were allowed to do so he already loves another dearly, and the knowledge of your true feelings would only pain his heart and mind. I am sure you do not wish for this to happen."

"Of course I do not," the Princess said sadly. "Yet, even if one can choose to hide one's feelings, one cannot control them. And love is a most strong sentiment that lies in all hearts as a terrible and fair strength that pushes you along your life's path."

And now Link felt terribly confused and ashamed, for he could not comprehend the Princess' feelings and yet he knew his confusion was brought upon by himself. But from that moment on a shadow was sown between the Hero and the Princess.

Impa suddenly rose to her feet, and it was clear that she did not wish to have these words said with folk about them, and she spoke to Princess Zelda. But the language she used was again that of most ancient times, and only those known in the ways of ancient lore might know it. Fair and melodious it sounded to Link's ears, yet it remained as a mystery tongue but till it was revealed by the Princess herself a time after.

"_Aníron e sui seronech?"_ Impa asked as she helped the Princess to rise, and to the Hero's surprise the Princess answered in the same tongue, as if it were her own birth-tongue.

"_Chín istach tan u-thenin,"_ she answered. "You know that I feel it, yet I do not wish for that."

"Then let us not speak anymore of the matter," the Shadow-woman said, but she smiled at the Princess, and she drew closer to her and set her arms about her. "In time, you will learn that love is not the only feeling we must learn to contain. Perhaps you shall love him forever, but you will not be enamoured of him for as long as you shall live. Keep hope within your heart! For, though he is not your fate, love is not denied to you, and when you finally find it you shall be glad because of the right choice you shall have done."

She released her, and Link could see that from Princess Zelda's proud eyes a silver tear had fallen. Suddenly, the Shadow-woman's gaze fell on his sight, and for a moment their eyes were fixed in each other. Then Link felt a terrible shame, for Impa now knew that he had been listening to words meant not to be listened; but to his utmost surprise, the Sheikah winked at him, and before Princess Zelda could notice anything, her guardian spoke aloud.

"It is time already," she said. "Let us wake the others. If we hasten today, by night we shall reach the Lost Woods."

"Tonight?" the Princess said. "I thought the snow would hinder our path and that we would arrive but until tomorrow."

"Snow can be a hindering, my child," Impa said, but she did not smile this time. "But where there is will, there is hope. If all is well amongst us, we have little to fear from distances."

With the dying embers of Din's Fire about them they warmed the bread they had brought with them, though Darunia had refused to take any of it and instead had pulled out a rock from the frozen ground and bit it noisily; and Ruto ate some water-plants she had carried along herself from Zora's River. After breakfast was over, Impa signalled them to carry on with the path; and so they continued their march into the accursed Forest of the Lost. Walking in the front of the company was Link the Hero of time, and his green tunic was like a leaf that chose not to die for the winter season, and in his back were his mighty sword and Hylian shield. Behind him walked Darunia the Goron, with his heavy steps that left deep prints in the soft snow, and on his back hung a huge battle-axe and a hammer; and behind him walked Saria the Kokiri, ever fearful to be left in the rear of the company, and she was armed with a light Deku shield and the Kokiri sword, although the thought of battle made her shiver. Walking behind the child was Nabooru the Gerudo, and she was the only member save one that did not seem to be burdened with heavy dread, and two Gerudo steel scimitars hung at her back; and talking vividly with her was Ruto of the Zora, princess of their kindred, and a great, golden trident she carried as her gear of war. But at the rear of the company walked, silently and proudly, Princess Zelda of the Hylians and Impa the Sheikah, last of the Shadow-folk; and both were clad in blue Sheikah cloaks, and both carried a long-bow made of yew and a pair of Sheikah knives. And the sternest and most quiet these two seemed to be.

Over the horizon to the north the City of Hyrule had been all but lost to their sights, and even the walls of Lon Lon Ranch that stood away from the castle had been covered in the falling snow; and all about them only the purest whiteness was, and although they were drawing closer to the Wood its threshold could not be seen yet. With each step they took part of the road was revealed out from the layers of snow that had covered it for two months now, and the farther they went, the thicker it would grow; and the wind that had been steadily blowing since the morning began to harden and cool, and as they strode along the invisible path chill gusts began to smite their faces once again. For nearly three hours they walked thus until silence crept into the air about them once again, and although they spoke naught already the shadow of foreboding began to loom above them, even during the clear mid-day.

In silence, thus, they walked with only an occasional word of question issuing from one of the members. But heavy were their hearts when, after having walked for four hours in the cold, they stopped to eat and rest for a while. Although the road had been peaceful and without sudden alerts they all sat down as if weary of a long journey full of toil and peril. Then they ate without much hunger and only for the sake of their strengths, and even Nabooru and Ruto did not speak anymore. In a circle they sat, and the hood of their cloaks made a hump on their backs, and they all looked like a stray company of old men. Then Impa stood up and gazed into the east, and her keen Sheikah eyes told her that the Wood was not far away by now; and she told so to the others.

"About time we ought to have seen something!" Darunia said raising his fist and letting fall on the ground. "I don't think we made more that five or six miles and already I'm tired to death!"

"You speak for me also," Ruto said. "I didn't know that walking over snow could so painful. Look! My feet are scorched! And I don't see any fire about us."

"It hasn't been so bad," said Nabooru, and Darunia and Ruto frowned at her. "Don't tell me you've never walked under harsh winds before! This is not too different from those walks about the wasteland."

"Do not forget that they live not in the desert," Impa said wishing to cut off an upcoming argument. "Be glad that you are used to journeys like this one. But do not be so proud before everyone. If there is something that all have felt in their hearts, with no exceptions, is the heavy weight of dread."

The wind stopped for a moment as if wishing to hear her, and Nabooru remained silent and bowed before the Shadow-woman; and Link was amazed at the air of respect the Sheikah drew from herself. For at the time she seemed to grow taller, and her gaze shone with strange light that forbade any kind of reply. Impa, as the last of an ancient line of old, commanded authority within any being she met. And not even fair Princess Zelda was an exception.

"Tonight," the Sheikah said, "we will reach the Lost Woods; and there I shall see who proves to be the strongest. Until then, I bid you all speak not too often; for it will only lengthen the shadow in our hearts. Do not worry overmuch also, for the path is clear and no foes lie before us. But yet I bid you again: do not speak too much. When dread looms about, din is but a dreadful choice."

And the company listened to her and remained in silence ever-after, until they reached the Forest.

A. N. Please, leave your comments on everything. Remember, a review is the best thing you can offer an author if you like a story.


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